Chapter 1

A Perfect Surprise

"God I hate that bi**h..!", Khushi flung her purse on the couch and started throwing her chain of curses for the tenth time that day.

"What are you so smiling at?, she looked at the photo of her and Arnav sharing a cotton candy, both grinning. She remembered with a slight chuckle how much she had to beg him to pose for that one, that too with a pink coloured candy.

This wasn't the only good memory they had shared together. In fact, they had always been together since childhood but now it seemed like they might have to separate.

It all started few hours ago when Arnav suddenly came home more excited than she had ever seen him.

"Khuhi, you got a minute?", he asked, dragging her and making her sit on one of the chairs next to the kitchen slab.

"Wassup Candy?", she asked teasing while ruffling his hair. Arnav groaned at the stupid nick name.

"Khushi, you reallly need to stop calling me that. Do you know how embarrassing it is to be called by that name in public?",he asked irritated.

"And that inspires me all the more to call you by that name. Anyway, I figured you wanted to speak something?", she asked, humor apart.

"Uh..yeah! Umm...I am not sure where to start...Okay, if you wanted someone very close to you to propose to you, how would you want it to be done? I mean like, any particular preferences? ", he spoke, struggling with his words.

"What..?!", she spat out completely flabbergasted. Why the hell was he asking her this, out of the blue, she thought confused.

"Khushi...just say..please", try as she might, she couldn't ignore that little 'please' that he managed to utter with so much sexiness in his voice.

"Fine I will tell but stop looking at me like that and don't you dare laugh. I am a girl and you very well know how filmy I am. When someone proposes me, I want to be swept off my feet. I want fairy lights and romantic music playing in the background. I want it to be happening in a special place, a place which holds many memories for both of us. In short, I want it to be full of romance and surprises", she said smiling, imagining Arnav's face in her mind. "By the way, why did you ask me that?", she questioned.

"Whew! That was easy. Actually the thing is, you know I have been dating this girl right? She is just so great and I think I have fallen in love with her. So I was planning to propose her but I just wasn't getting any ideas as to how. But you solved my problem in no time. Thanks babes..gotta go and do all the preparations before 8.That's right, I am gonna propose her today. So I gottta bail..", he turned hurriedly to leave.

"Ah..wa..wait!", Khushi all but shrieked as she pulled his hand and stopped him. All her imaginations from before shattered in no time.

"You are proposing to her..? Already..? Are you crazy..? You've been to..like what, three dates with her?", she asked, rhetorically.

"That's not true..It's four dates actually", he replied timidly.

"Seriously. .?"

"Oh c'mon! Can't you feel happy for me? I know what I am doing and I know that I want to do this", he said, giving up his futile argument with Khushi.

"You're right. I should be supporting you and also I am happy for you, really. But as your best friend, I just have this one more question to ask you. Are you sure, Arnav?", she asked with seriousness. She silently hoped that he would say no but she knew what was going to come.

"I have never been this sure in my entire life", he spoke, looking at her in the eye. The intensity of it made her nervous. Boy, whoever it is that has scored him was one lucky girl, she thought, envied.

"See ya... don't wait for me tonight. I will be late", he said as he turned to leave.

"But Arnav, I cooked all your favorites.."

"Not today Khushi, I'm sorry", she heard his muffled voice through the door as he left.

And now, Khushi was pacing all over the apartment, finding articles to throw and calm her temper down. FYI, it only increased more. Why oh why didn't I just stop him and push him against the door and kiss him when I had the chance to? ,she thought, regretting for wasting all the time that they were together.

As the hands of the clock began to approach 8 , she looked around for more vases to break but sadly, none were left. Nor was any ice cream left in the big ice cream box that had been with her and always supported her in times of stress or anger. She immediately regretted not buying more Chinese crockery sets. She bit her nails in despair and unable to bear the thought of Arnav with some other women, she grabbed her car keys and stomped off the apartment. She started driving crazily towards that one place that could comfort her. It was the place that has seen her tears as well as her smiles. It was a place which was very dear to her as she and Arnav had spent most of their childhood growing up and playing there. It was a barn attached with a small yard which had been a witness to all the good times that they had.

As she stopped the car near the compound and got down, she was left utterly confused. There were fairy lights all around and light music playing in the background. There were red and white silk curtains hanging and flowers that were spread out like an aisle.

She was shocked for a moment. "Does that mean he is...", she mused. At that thought, Arnav suddenly stepped out from shadows with a wide, breathtaking smile.

"Arnav... are you planning to propose your girlfriend here? Cause this is our special place and no one else can ever replace that..like ever. And if you do, I am gonna beat the shit out of you.", she spoke, her voice suddenly menacing.

"Ignoring your little banter at the end which I assume was intended to be a threat, I am gonna tell you that you are thinking absolutely right. I am going to propose to the only girl that I have ever shared this special place with", and with that said, he got down on one knee, holding a diamond ring glistening in his hand and spoke with all the love that he had for her within his heart, Khushi, I love you more than anything else in this world. Will you marry me and spend the rest of your life with me?

While Arnav sat there on one knee and waited for her answer, Khushi couldn't as much as react at the unexpected.

"Uh..Arnav..what...I don't understand...", she trailed, unable to complete the sentence.

"Khushi..don't you see? You're the girl I am in love with. You were the one I spoke about earlier today. This is all real, this is happening. .", he said, trying to make her believe.

"So..all this time you lied to me?", she asked, incredulously.

"No Khushi...I did not lie to you", he spoke impatiently.

"Then all those dates..."

"I did go on all those dates", he cut her in.

"So you are saying to me that there is another girl in your life? I knew it! I bet it is that Sheetal. That bi**h was always trailing behind you more than necessary. I swear, I'm gonna kill her...", she spoke and her features promised nothing less.

"Whoa..Calm down my little tigress. Let me complete. I did go on all those dates, I went on all of them with you. And I know that you are confused so let's recall alright? When did I say my first date was?", he asked her, making her think back to the horrible day when he had all of a sudden announced he went on a date.

"Last Sunday, you had come home late and when I asked you said that you went on date with some girl to the ice cream parlor.", she spoke, his exact words still ringing in her ears.

"That's right and didn't I take you to the ice cream parlor that day since you had emptied all the ice creams that we had in our fridge? I not only buy a whole box for you, I also let you have one there", he asked, hoping that she would get it through her thick brain.

"But.."

"But what Khushi..? Isn't that a date? You remember the second date?", he asked her.

"Ya..you said you went to see a movie with her. But when did we...?", she asked blankly.

"Oh c'mon! You have to at least remember this one! It was one of your romantic movies that you speak about all the time. Honestly I never watched it cause I was busy watching you.", he said smiling at the memory of Khushi speaking the lines along with the character.

"I thought you said you went to the theaters. .", she said, confused

"I did. We watched it in our home theatre Khushi..remember?", he lifted his eyebrows and asked.

"Oh!...But the third time, you said you guys had a beach date. I don't recall you taking me to one...", she pointed, accusing.

"Are you sure about that Khushi? Because I certainly remember that I did. That day, after college we had stopped at the Juhu beach and we had eaten Vada pau's. I remember that day you had finally given up on your stupid idea to diet and ate something oily again. Honestly, you are all skin and bones. I don't understand what happens to your brain sometimes that it comes up with such silly ideas. Thank god you can't stay away from food for long", he chuckled while her mouth turned into a huge O, slightly offended. "And I also remember how excited you had become. You even hugged me", he spoke as if it was something special.

"But I hug all the time..", she said not getting his point.

"But did it feel like how it felt all the time..?, he asked with a smirk.

"Well...okay... you are right.. it may have gotten little weird.. I might have stayed hugging you for longer time than the usual..", she said embarrassed.

"That was the jealousy acting out because at that time you still thought I was dating someone. If it helps you feel better, I did not feel weird at all. I enjoyed it, just like I always have", he smirked causing her to open her mouth wide open again.

"But you always disappeared during the evening only to return late at night. If you weren't out on date then where were you?", she asked.

"I had found this part time job that paid daily wages. I figured, If I wanted to propose you, I should at least do it with my own money and not my Dad's. So I planned all this with the money I got from the job.", he replied. Khushi couldn't believe he did all this just for her.

"Oh and before you ask, we both had gone to my parents place the day when I said I took my girlfriend to meet my parents. So that explains my fourth and the final date. I hope at least now you can join the dots. It wasn't hard to guess but I guess the green eyed monster had stopped your brain from working which worked out pretty well for me and my surprise", he swung his hand around the place.

"So...there is no other girl?", she asked slowly, not letting herself hope too much.

"No Khushi, there isn't. It's only you. It's always been you and you know it. I have literally spent my whole life with you..except the first two years when I waited you to be born. Even our parents want us to get together. Why else do you think they would let us move into an apartment together, both single and young? I say they are silently hoping that you get knocked up by me so that marrying us will be the only option left. It is only you who still think that what we have is just friendship. You are the first girl I ever became friends with, you are the first girl that I ever got attracted to, you are the first girl that I ever fell in love with, you are the first girl that I ever want to marry and you are the last girl I will ever leave. So Khushi, I am asking you again, Will you Marry Me?", he held his breath as he waited for answer. But of course Khushi was Khushi and she always amazed him at each step.

"You idiot, you moron. Do you know what I was going through?! Aarrgghh...I hate you so much right now...", she shouted, frustrated.

"Certainly not the reaction I was expecting but then again, when have you ever reacted normally? I really need to know the answer Khushi because as you see, I have been standing on one knee for a long time and now they have really started to hurt. If it is a yes, I can't spend my rest of the life with you limping or with a knee cap and if it is a no, then I can't land any other girl if I am physically disabled. So my fate is in your hands. What do you say?", he asked once again.

"Well.. in that case I am afraid that you are stuck with me...Candy..or should I say my eye candy?",she winked and chuckled while Arnav narrowed his eyes at her, mock glaring.

"Oh just put the damn ring already!", she thrust her hand forward and Arnav happily took it in his as he slid the ring onto her engagement finger. She gazed at the ring and then back at him lovingly while Arnav stood and pulled her towards him for a searing kiss. Their very first kiss.

"I have to say, you played very well Raizada", she said as she went into his waiting arms.

"Mrs. Raizada, it's me you're talking about. Of course I played great. Now come, let us go home and have that dinner that you cooked for me", he grinned and walked her towards the car.

"Umm...just a little spoiler alert, I might have broken all the dishes and trashed the place in anger...", she admitted sheepishly. They both looked at each other for some time and then burst out laughing.

"You're a pagal, you know that Khushi?" , he spoke between the bouts of laughter.

"Well, now the pagal is going to be your wife. So you better not leave her. Or else you know what will happen", she warned lightly.

"Of course not. I knew what I was getting myself into. I will never leave you no matter what happens, even if it means that I will have to handle your craziness too", he spoke from his heart.

"Forever?"

"Forever. ", he promised and drew her in for another kiss.